Fellowship will reset progression on October 22, 2026, ending Early Access Season 3 and beginning a test phase for systems being developed ahead of version 1.0. Chief Rebel’s Campfire Checkpoint outlines major changes to matchmaking, the route to Eternal, gear progression, and the active dungeon pool. The October update is not the 1.0 release, and the developer says several details are still being tested.
Chief Rebel plans another reset in late November or early December, using feedback from the October test. The team describes the October update as an initial rehearsal before another round of changes and, eventually, the full 1.0 release. The new plan gives players a chance to test the systems before they are finalized, building on earlier Fellowship 1.0 priorities around progression and matchmaking.
The team discussed the reset and its planned changes during a Roundtable with Will and Bretton.
Three difficulties will replace the League progression path
Instead of moving through the current League structure, players will test three matchmaking difficulties: Easy, Medium, and Hard. During Season 3, the existing Leagues and difficulties created around 16 matchmaking pools. Chief Rebel said those separate queues could be harder to fill when players joined later, leveled alternate Heroes, or progressed at different speeds.
The new options are intended to match the game’s complexity to players’ experience. Easy will make group mechanics such as Interrupts and Dispels more forgiving, while Medium will make the full range of dungeon mechanics more important. Hard will keep every mechanic active, with mistakes carrying more weight. It is also planned as the fastest route through gearing toward Eternal.
Once unlocked, the difficulty options are intended to apply account-wide, which could make gearing alternate Heroes faster. Players will move through the introductory difficulties before meeting a combination of gear and dungeon-completion requirements to unlock Eternal. Exact thresholds are still being worked out, and the new introductory path will not require Capstone dungeons.
Gear progression will target weaker equipment slots
Before Eternal, dungeon rewards are being reworked to scale from a player’s current equipped item level. The system will also target lower-level gear slots when granting guaranteed upgrades, reducing the chance of receiving repeated upgrades for a slot that is already well ahead of the rest of a loadout. Enemies in this part of progression will scale individually against each player. These changes do not apply to Eternal, where the developer plans to retain the endgame progression structure.
Fellowship’s Eternal difficulty curve may also be compressed from its current range of more than 70 levels to roughly 32, while keeping a similar overall challenge range. Chief Rebel is considering an active rotation of eight Adventure Dungeons and two Capstones, with the goal of helping players learn those dungeons and find groups at the difficulty they want. Both the difficulty count and dungeon selection remain experiments for the reset.
Crown of the Wild is planned for the dungeon rotation
The October test is also expected to include an early version of a new 1.0 dungeon. Known internally as Treetop Village, it is currently being called Crown of the Wild. The Adventure Dungeon introduces a druidic faction centered on wild magic, nature, and beast-like creatures, and is planned as one of the eight dungeons in the October rotation.
Halloween rewards return during the short test window
The Stronghold will get its Halloween decorations again, and last year’s cosmetics are returning alongside new rewards. This time, Seasonal Challenges will distribute rewards instead of asking players to use a particular Hero a set number of times. Chief Rebel is still deciding which items will come from challenges and which might be sold in the store.
The developer also said it does not plan another reward on the scale of the 10,000 Dungeon Rating target during this short test period. With another reset planned for late November or early December, the focus is on trying the new systems and offering Halloween rewards without turning the window into a major grind.
Itemization changes are still being developed
Chief Rebel wants to introduce Fellowship’s gear systems more gradually, since new players can currently encounter modifiers, Blessings, Traits, Gems, and Relics before they have unlocked the abilities those systems affect. The team is also working toward clearer gear-slot identities and less randomness, including moving some power into modifiers players can interact with and separating Major and Heroic Traits into their own pools. Defensive power may move elsewhere so it creates less competition for the Traits players want.
Further changes to crafting, Gems, Relics, and the experience of playing multiple Heroes were not detailed during the Roundtable. The developer plans to share more about itemization and other quality-of-life changes before October 22, as those systems become clearer.
How does the move to three difficulty pools sound for Fellowship’s next test? For more on the planned changes to Eternal and the new dungeon rotation, stay connected with us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Fellowship
Developed by Chief Rebel
